Monday, September 10, 2007
A Brief History of Computers, from First Creation Until Today
The development of the modern day computer was the result of advances in technologies and man's need to quantify. The history of computer development is often referred to in reference to the different generations of computing devices which were used over a period of time. Each generation of computer is characterized by a major technological development that fundamentally changed the way computers operate, resulting in increasingly smaller, cheaper, more powerful and more efficient and reliable devices.
Abacus is considered the first computer which was developed by the Chinese in 3000 B.C. Abacus is a counting board which could only perform addition and subtractions.
There are five generations of computers:
First Generation:
The computers built during the period 1940 to 1956 are referred to as the first generation computers. The first computers used vacuum tubes for circuitry and magnetic drums to store data. Due to the use of these components their size was massive taking up almost an entire room. They were very expensive to operate and in addition used a great deal of electricity, generated a lot of heat due to which they had a low MTBF (mean time between failure), which was often the cause of malfunctions. First generation computers relied on machine language in the form of 0’s and 1’s to perform operations, and they could only solve one problem at a time. Input was based on punched cards and paper tapes, and output was displayed on printouts.
The UNIVAC (Universal Automatic Computer) and ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator) are examples of first-generation computing devices.
Second Generation:
The computers built between the year 1956 and 1963 are called the second generation computers. These computers were built with transistors which replaced vacuum tubes of the first generation. The transistor was far superior to the vacuum tube, allowing computers to become smaller, faster, cheaper, more energy-efficient and more reliable than their first-generation predecessors. Though the transistor still generated a great deal of heat that subjected the computer to damage, it was a vast improvement over the vacuum tube.
Second-generation computers still relied on punched cards for input and printouts for output.
Second-generation computers used assembly languages which allowed programmers to specify instructions in words. During the time when assembly language programming was going on High level Programming languages like COBOL (Common Business Oriented Language) and FORTRAN (Formula Translator) were being developed. The second generation computers were the first that stored their instructions in their memory, which used magnetic core technology instead of the Magnetic drum. The computers of this generation were developed for the atomic energy industry.
Third Generation:
The computers built during the period 1964 to 1971 were referred to as third generation computers. The third generation computers replaced the transistor which was used in second generation computers with Integrated Circuits (ICs). The ICs are miniature transistors placed on silicon chips which were called semiconductors. This drastically increased the speed and efficiency and decreased the size and cost of computers.
Instead of punched cards and printouts, users interacted with third generation computers through keyboards, monitor and an operating system acted as a medium to take the input, get it processed and provide the output. This system allowed the computers to run many different applications at one time with a central program that monitored the memory. During this generation computers for the first time became acceptable to a mass audience because they were smaller, cheaper and could be easily programmed unlike their predecessors. The language used by this generation computers was High Level Language (HLL) which was easy to understand as it hand English words.
The “LILLIAC IV” is an example of a third generation computer.
Fourth Generation:
The computers built from the year 1971 to date are referred to as the fourth and some as the fifth generation computers. The microprocessor which was a thousands of ICs built onto a single silicon chip was used. The size reduced drastically. Computers which were as big as an entire room were now small and could fit in the palm of the hand. The Intel 4004 chip, developed in 1971, had all the components of a computer namely the central processing unit (CPU), memory to input/output controls, all on a single chip.
In 1981 IBM introduced its first computer for the home user and following steps in 1984 Apple introduced the Macintosh. Microprocessors also moved out of the sphere of desktop computers and moved into many areas of life as more and more everyday products like (Refrigerators, Microwave Ovens, Mobile Phones, and Washing Machines) began to use microprocessors.
As these small computers became more powerful, they could be linked together to form a network and this eventually led to the development of the Internet. Fourth generation computers also saw the development of Graphical User Interfaces (Windows), the mouse (pointing device) and handheld devices (mobile phones).
Fifth Generation:
Fifth generation computing devices work on artificial intelligence and are still in development, though there are some applications which purely belong to the fifth generation such as voice recognition that are being used today. The use of parallel processing and superconductors is helping to make artificial intelligence a reality. Quantum Computers, Molecular Computers and the use of nanotechnology in the fifth generation will completely change the face of computers in years to come. The goal of fifth generation computing is to develop devices that responds to natural language as inputs and are capable of learning, self organizing and providing the output. Many of this generation computers operate without the help of humans.
Abacus is considered the first computer which was developed by the Chinese in 3000 B.C. Abacus is a counting board which could only perform addition and subtractions.
There are five generations of computers:
First Generation:
The computers built during the period 1940 to 1956 are referred to as the first generation computers. The first computers used vacuum tubes for circuitry and magnetic drums to store data. Due to the use of these components their size was massive taking up almost an entire room. They were very expensive to operate and in addition used a great deal of electricity, generated a lot of heat due to which they had a low MTBF (mean time between failure), which was often the cause of malfunctions. First generation computers relied on machine language in the form of 0’s and 1’s to perform operations, and they could only solve one problem at a time. Input was based on punched cards and paper tapes, and output was displayed on printouts.
The UNIVAC (Universal Automatic Computer) and ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator) are examples of first-generation computing devices.
Second Generation:
The computers built between the year 1956 and 1963 are called the second generation computers. These computers were built with transistors which replaced vacuum tubes of the first generation. The transistor was far superior to the vacuum tube, allowing computers to become smaller, faster, cheaper, more energy-efficient and more reliable than their first-generation predecessors. Though the transistor still generated a great deal of heat that subjected the computer to damage, it was a vast improvement over the vacuum tube.
Second-generation computers still relied on punched cards for input and printouts for output.
Second-generation computers used assembly languages which allowed programmers to specify instructions in words. During the time when assembly language programming was going on High level Programming languages like COBOL (Common Business Oriented Language) and FORTRAN (Formula Translator) were being developed. The second generation computers were the first that stored their instructions in their memory, which used magnetic core technology instead of the Magnetic drum. The computers of this generation were developed for the atomic energy industry.
Third Generation:
The computers built during the period 1964 to 1971 were referred to as third generation computers. The third generation computers replaced the transistor which was used in second generation computers with Integrated Circuits (ICs). The ICs are miniature transistors placed on silicon chips which were called semiconductors. This drastically increased the speed and efficiency and decreased the size and cost of computers.
Instead of punched cards and printouts, users interacted with third generation computers through keyboards, monitor and an operating system acted as a medium to take the input, get it processed and provide the output. This system allowed the computers to run many different applications at one time with a central program that monitored the memory. During this generation computers for the first time became acceptable to a mass audience because they were smaller, cheaper and could be easily programmed unlike their predecessors. The language used by this generation computers was High Level Language (HLL) which was easy to understand as it hand English words.
The “LILLIAC IV” is an example of a third generation computer.
Fourth Generation:
The computers built from the year 1971 to date are referred to as the fourth and some as the fifth generation computers. The microprocessor which was a thousands of ICs built onto a single silicon chip was used. The size reduced drastically. Computers which were as big as an entire room were now small and could fit in the palm of the hand. The Intel 4004 chip, developed in 1971, had all the components of a computer namely the central processing unit (CPU), memory to input/output controls, all on a single chip.
In 1981 IBM introduced its first computer for the home user and following steps in 1984 Apple introduced the Macintosh. Microprocessors also moved out of the sphere of desktop computers and moved into many areas of life as more and more everyday products like (Refrigerators, Microwave Ovens, Mobile Phones, and Washing Machines) began to use microprocessors.
As these small computers became more powerful, they could be linked together to form a network and this eventually led to the development of the Internet. Fourth generation computers also saw the development of Graphical User Interfaces (Windows), the mouse (pointing device) and handheld devices (mobile phones).
Fifth Generation:
Fifth generation computing devices work on artificial intelligence and are still in development, though there are some applications which purely belong to the fifth generation such as voice recognition that are being used today. The use of parallel processing and superconductors is helping to make artificial intelligence a reality. Quantum Computers, Molecular Computers and the use of nanotechnology in the fifth generation will completely change the face of computers in years to come. The goal of fifth generation computing is to develop devices that responds to natural language as inputs and are capable of learning, self organizing and providing the output. Many of this generation computers operate without the help of humans.
Labels: Computers
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